


Staying with us

by Theirmajesty2139



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Dipper Pines and Grunkle Stan Bonding, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Pines Family, Teenage Dipper Pines, csa mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:55:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29927553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theirmajesty2139/pseuds/Theirmajesty2139
Summary: Dipper opens up to Grunkle Stan about the real reason he and his sister are so reluctant to leave the safe haven of Gravity Falls.
Relationships: Dipper Pines & Ford Pines, Dipper Pines & Ford Pines & Mabel Pines & Stan Pines, Dipper Pines & Mabel Pines, Dipper Pines & Stan Pines
Comments: 11
Kudos: 29





	1. Confession

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warning for CSA mention 
> 
> This is therapeutic writing for me so my writing has definitely been better. I’m attempting to heal through my comfort characters.  
> I hope you enjoy

"Tell him Dipper, you’ve got to or they’ll send us home."   
My sister squeezes my hand, eyes shining. She’s safer here and so am I but that doesn’t make this any easier.   
I frown at her, trying to keep my emotions at bay but struggling to breathe through the lump in my throat.  
"It’s easy for you to say, he never did anything to you Mabel." I snap and she visibly flinches.   
"I know but wherever we go we’re together. I don’t wanna go home and I especially don’t wanna go back without you."  
She looks like she might cry so I pull her forward into an awkward hug, patting her shoulder.  
"I’m sorry. Just-... come with me, yeah?"  
She gives a shy smile, braces peering out from under her top lip.   
"Of course."

We shuffle into the living room and I keep my eyes glued to the carpet. Why did I think I could do this?  
Mabel senses my apprehension and steps forward first, facing Grunkle Stan from his slumped position in front of the battered TV.  
He looks up and grunts in acknowledgment, taking in the look on our faces.   
"Whatever you kids broke just get Soos to fix it."  
We look guilty.  
My whole body stiffens and burns with the disgusting realisation that he may not even believe me.  
"No, Grunkle Stan it’s not that. Dipper has something he has to tell you."  
He looks between us and for the first time really seems to feel the gravity of the situation.   
"Alright, I’m listening. What is it?"   
He switches off the TV and plunges us into silence, everyone waits for me to speak.   
"Well... we-.... we don’t want to leave at the end of the summer. We want to stay here with you and Grunkle Ford."  
Stan grins and puts one hand on my shoulder.   
"Heh well I’m flattered kids, really but you gotta go home. Wouldn’t you miss your parents?"  
"No!" Mabel spits with so much contempt in her voice that we all freeze. She never speaks about anyone like that. She’s always seen the best in people.  
I heave in a breath and steel myself, holding on tight to my sister's hand.   
"I can’t go home, Grunkle Stan. I can’t do it anymore."  
My body shakes and I run my fist over my eyelids to brush away stray tears.   
Stan pauses. "Dipper, what are you telling me?"  
"I’ve got to tell you about something... about why I can’t go home but you can’t say anything to anyone, okay?"  
"I will kill someone if I have to. You can tell me anything."  
My whole body shakes and I can’t control myself anymore.   
"Since I was a kid, dad would-....would-...."  
I break off coughing and heaving around my constricting throat. I can’t say it. Can’t admit my pain.   
Stan gives a heavy sigh and gets to his feet.  
"Mabel, can you go upstairs for a minute? I need to talk to your brother alone."  
She looks between us before letting my hand fall. "Okay."   
She leaves and I don’t stop her, she doesn’t need to hear about every horrible thing that happened to me whenever I would take a bath or walk around in a bathing suit at home. It took me years to even know that something was wrong. It had only happened a few times but I lived in fear of it ever happening again. Once was more than enough.  
"Dipper, take deep breaths. It’s okay." Stan kneels before me on the carpet, glasses discarded and eyes so full of worry. "You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to, just let me know, is this what I think it is?"  
He places one hand on my shoulder, noticeably more gentle than before.  
I nod, tears and snot running down my face.  
"He did things..... he hurt me."  
"Your sister too or just you?"  
I shake my head. "J-just me."  
Wordlessly he pulls me against his chest so my face is smushed in his greasy undershirt. He holds me so tightly that I lose my breath and I cling to him.  
"It’s okay, kid. I’ve got you now. You’re safe. You’ve never got to go back there."  
Like that my whole body goes limp and I sob into his chest, letting out the pent up agony of the last few years. He strokes my hair and makes soft shushing sounds.   
I pull back, tears leaking. "Promise? Promise me you won’t send us back, please."  
Stan cups my cheeks and brushes away my tears with his thumb.   
"I swear to you, Dipper. This will never happen again, we’re gonna keep you safe. Can I talk to Ford about this?"  
I nod. "Can you call Mabel back?"  
He smiles kindly and pulls me against him, holding my face against his shirt as if to protect me from the loud noise.   
"Pumpkin! Come downstairs!"   
At the sound of footsteps above he releases me and heads over to the vending machine, opening the hatch he stamps his foot on the floor and shouts down the elevator shaft.   
"Ay! Sixer! Get up here, gotta talk to you!"  
Fords voice returns distantly. "Coming!" Just as the door opens and Mabel shuffles in with Waddles in toe.  
At the sight of my blotchy, tear-stained cheeks she runs to hug me.  
"You did it, Dipper. I’m so proud of you."  
I squeeze her, mumbling into her hair. "He said we can stay."  
I feel her deflate against me and I give a shaky laugh.   
The elevator behind the vending machine clangs open and Ford steps out, hands shoved in his coat pockets.   
"Afternoon everyone. Stan I hope this is important, I was in the middle of quantum-"   
He seems to pick up on the tension and surveys us all, frowning. "Okay what’s going on?"  
I duck my head so Stan takes Ford by the arm and turns him away, the two muttering with their heads together. Ford grows increasingly stern and his eyes fill with so much hurt.   
He crosses the living room in one broad step and swallows both me and Mabel in his arms. He clears his throat, tears in his eyes.   
"God...I can’t believe this. Not to my nephew. I’m so sorry Dipper, If I hadn’t spent so long stuck between dimensions I could’ve been here. I could-"  
"No. Grunkle Ford you couldn’t change anything I just don’t wanna go back."  
"You won’t. Neither of you. You’ll stay with me, with us." He looks between us and runs a hand over Mabel's hair.   
She grins wide and flaps her arms in excitement.   
"Yes! This is so great, we’re gonna start high school in gravity falls with all our friends. I’ve gotta go call Candy and Grenda!"  
She runs into the gift shop to use the phone, her joy overflowing but I’m still not convinced.   
"B-but what... what if they try to get us back? They’re gonna ask questions when we don’t arrive on the bus home."  
"We’ll call them. What about your mother, does she know what happened?"  
I bite my lip, swallowing hard.   
"Yeah, she didn’t believe me. She told me to be quiet and forget about it."  
Stan growls pulling his jacket on over his vest.   
"I’m going to kill them both. God help me I’ve been to prison for less."  
I’ve never seen him so angry.  
Ford, ever the level headed twin, takes Stan by the shoulders.   
"Stanley, calm down. We may not need to resort to violence. Our main priority is keeping these kids safe." He takes a long breath. "You should call them. Calmly explain that their children won’t be returning and will be staying with us now. If they don’t accept this then we threaten to talk about what we know."  
I tug on his arm, grabbing his attention. "Great uncle Ford you can’t do that, this is all so embarrassing I don’t want any more people involved."  
He crouches down, meeting my eyes. "You won’t have to, Dipper. They won’t call our bluff."  
"How do you know?"  
"Well this is the sort of thing that can ruin them, they’ll want to keep it quiet an if they try to take you back we’ll have to find an effective way to stop them. Like we said, we will kill for you. Nobody will take you away."  
I smile and step back, still listening to them talk.  
"Will you be able to make the call without flying off the handle, Stanley?"  
Stan shrugs. "Probably not."  
"Okay..." Ford sighs. "Mabel sweetie, can you bring the phone In here."  
"Coming!" She calls and we hear a muffled goodbye to her friends before she comes running in, loose phone chord trailing behind her.  
"Good. Now we’re going to have a little chat with your parents. Mabel I’m giving you the task of listing everything you’re going to need if you’re staying here, okay?"  
She smiles and hops excitedly on the spot. "Okay I can do that!" And she runs to get her crayons.  
Ford turns to me. "Dipper you’re in charge of keeping her on task and just in case you get bored..." He digs into his coat and pulls out the first journal. "Feel free to take a look through this."  
I take it from him almost instantly overcome with excitement.   
"Wow! Thanks great uncle Ford."  
"That’s alright, now go find your sister, we have to have a chat with your parents."


	2. Moving on

"Do you think that we’re going to need camping supplies Dipper?"   
Mabel calls from her place on the floor of our room, feet kicking in the air as she scribbles on her notepad.   
I sigh and set down Ford's journal. "No, we need clothes and stuff for school and bedding, maybe some toys or stuff for our room that’s it. We don’t want to demand too much."  
She sighs. "I guess. It’s just... If we think of this like an adventure then we don’t have to think about it the way it is." She buries the lower half of her face in her sweater and her voice becomes muffled.   
Wordlessly I roll off my bed and stretch out onto the floor beside her, one arm snaking over her shoulders.   
"I know, I’m sorry you’ve been dragged into this with me."  
She rolls her eyes. "I wouldn’t wanna be anywhere else bro-bro." She bumps my shoulder and goes back to scribbling our list. "I will miss my kitten though." She sighs.   
I smile sadly. "Do you want me to go get Waddles?"  
She nods. "Yes please."  
"Alright." I pat her arm and climb to my feet, slipping quietly down the stairs.   
Waddles lays at the bottom of the stairs, snuffling in his sleep.   
I lift him gently, waking him and he blinks at me with his little black eyes.  
"Up, up.." I mumble, setting him on his feet.  
I’m about to lead him upstairs when I hear muffled shouting from the study door.   
I let him go and creep closer, pressing myself to the crack of the door.   
"Listen here you piece of-" Stan's voice, full of rage. "I’m not putting that kid through anymore stress, understand? They don’t want to go back with you and they won’t."  
The room is silent for half a second and then Stan returns louder.   
"Don’t even try to deny it, I know exactly what you did to that poor boy. If you never step foot within state lines of him it’ll be a blessing."  
I’m so caught up in listening that I don’t hear the footsteps nearing the door so almost face-plant the floor when Ford swings open the door. I trip forward and he steadies me with one hand on my shoulder and eyes me before walking back into the office and taking the phone from Stan, voice stern and finalising.   
"These kids are under our care. If you cannot come to terms with this we will be more than happy to involve the authorities."  
He then places the phone back on the hook with a satisfying click. As he does this Stan gets up from his seat and approaches me, eyes cautious.   
"I’m sorry Grunkle Stan. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but I came down to get Waddles for Mabel and I heard yelling, I-"  
"Shh, it’s alright kid." He pats my shoulder. "Come join us over here." Stan returns to his seat and I perch on the edge of his desk, Ford chooses to stay leaning against the nearest wall.   
"How much did you hear?"  
I shrug. "Not much. Just the last part. They’re not happy, are they."  
"Nah they’re not but that’s not your problem to worry about. You’ve dealt with enough grownup things for a lifetime. Now it’s time to let someone else fight this battle for you."  
I nod slowly, unsure but optimistic.   
"Good, it’s time you just got to be a kid. Now go get your sister and we’ll take you shopping."

We walk around the Gravity falls mall, Mabel dragging Ford by the arm to look in every shop window and he gladly follows, leaving me and Stan to follow behind.  
He carries bags filled with Mabel's new clothes and toys. She could never resist a shopping trip even when we were little.   
As for me I hadn’t seen anything I wanted. While Mabel chose a lunch box I swore I was happy with my rucksack and as she bought armfuls of new clothes for the start of school in September I contented myself with my usual blue parka and hat despite the encouragement of both my grunkles.   
"Dipper, you good?"   
Stan’s voice rumbles sounding uninterested but his keen gaze gives his emotion away.   
I shrug. "Yeah, I guess so."  
He huffs and motions to Ford to follow Mabel into the pet store, taking me to a nearby bench and sitting down.  
"Talk to me, kid. Whatever it is you can trust me."  
He pats my arm and I look down into my lap. "Look, it’s not that I regret telling you because I don’t. I’m really glad we get to stay here but I don’t want people treating me differently. I don’t want things to be different, I don’t need all this stuff to feel better." I gesture around me. "This is Mabel's thing but I just want things to be normal again."  
He seems to think for a moment before smiling down at me, a wicked excitement in his eyes. "Alright kid, I’ve got an idea."   
He says nothing more until Ford returns with my sister and a bag filled with toys for waddles. I roll my eyes fondly and watch as Ford and Stan converse quietly. Ford gets a knowing look on his face and turns to me.   
"Come this way, my boy. There’s something I think you’ll enjoy."  
We head off and leave Mabel with Grunkle Stan.   
"This place really hasn’t changed that much in the thirty years I’ve been away. I used to come here for my supplies when I first arrived in Gravity Falls. Now if I’m not mistaken..."  
He leads me into a tiny stationary shop and we head right to the back. He bends over and fishes through piles of old books. "I’m sure they still make them..." he tosses things aside, digging to the very back. "Ah! Here it is."  
He stands back up holding a familiar red book but the front cover is strangely blank.  
"This is where I first purchased my journals but now that you’ll be my apprentice my brother thinks we should start a forth book."  
I gawk, eyes shining with excitement, suddenly all my worries have been forgotten.   
"Seriously?" I practically vibrate on the spot.   
"Yes and I think we should make it together, I would love to have your input in my research."  
Fishing a pencil from his pocket he draws around his hand, carefully creating the six fingered outline that I had become so familiar with.   
"Give me your hand?" He asks and I let him take me by the wrist and place my smaller palm inside the outline of his own and draw around my fingers. He then draws a large '4' in the centre.   
"What do you think?" He asks and I smile so wide that I wonder if it could actually break my face.   
"I-I-I love it! Yes!"  
He laughs. "That’s a good lad, I’ll go get it. If there’s anything else you see that you want just shout."  
I nod. "I will."

I spend the next few hours in the basement with Ford writing about our adventures defeating Bill and all the weird things that came from his dimension. He is reassuring and listens to my additions. Without the impending end of Summer I finally find myself able to relax.


	3. Confrontation

I spend the next week in relative bliss, the only worries being the nerves of starting a new school. As it happened Mabel and I have all the same classes and share some with Candy and Grenda. We eat lunch at the table with Wendy and her friends who all welcomed us with open arms along with the occasional jive about our age.   
I spend the days at school and helping out in the Mystery Shack and the evenings in the basement with Ford researching the supernatural.  
Nobody even asks why we didn’t leave after our birthday almost as though we have never been anywhere else. 

I lay across the carpet before the TV with Ford sitting cross-legged at my side. We’re planning a DDaMD campaign and have the whole day set out before us. It’s a Saturday so I have no school and nothing more to do in the lab, I can just chill.   
"Do you want your Druids in this match? If you need another graph I’ll be happy to help." Ford mutters, bent over his own set of papers and madly scribbling our strategy.   
As I think I listen to the bustle of the shack. Stan sits in his office, door open and the sound of the keyboard is apparent. Mabel is in the kitchen with Soos, making concoctions of food that they attempt to feed to Waddles, her laughter rings through the house. Wendy is watching the gift shop and all the tours are finished for the day. There’s a happy kind of buzz as we all do our own thing.   
I roll my eyes as a commotion sounds from the gift shop, it’s not abnormal because most of our attractions are fake and sometimes customers demand a refund. Nobody bothers to move, Wendy is fierce and isn’t paid enough to be polite to these people. She can handle herself.   
"Yeah." I respond absentmindedly. "I’ve got this, I even set a Paladin for Stan so he can join our party, he said he’d play this time."  
Ford smiles and brushes a hand over my hair. "What, you finally got him to agree to a family game night?"  
I shrug. "Not officially but I’m working on it. Mabel said she’d only play if the pig can play too so I think they’re sharing a character." Ford laughs, shooting a glance towards the girl in the kitchen. "And she wants to be some kind of princess. Getting her to play by the rules is gonna be a nightmare."

As we’re setting up our board and carrying a quiet banter Wendy comes in from the shop looking more than a little flustered.  
"Stan? Mr Pines we have a problem." She walks around us and stands in the office doorway.  
"It better be important if you’ve left the shop unattended." Stan grumbles, pulling himself from his seat. "Come on then. What is it?"  
"There’s this couple in the shop who want to see you. They’re not happy."  
Stan picks up his discarded fez and steps through the employee door to the gift shop. There’s a moment of silence where we all wait before Stan’s voice booms through the house.   
"Alright everyone out, now! Shop's closed. If you’re all not out in thirty seconds I’m getting the hose!"   
I sit up a little straighter and Mabel comes running into the room.   
"What’s happening?" She asks. "The only other time he’s closed the shop was when the FBI showed up. We’re not going to get arrested again, are we?"   
"No honey."  
Ford puts his arm around her in reassurance but I see his hand twitch towards the memory-erasing gun In his pocket.  
Creeping slowly forward, I peer through the crack in the door to the gift shop which has been left ajar. I feel my stomach drop. I step back and grip tightly to the couch for reassurance that I won’t fall.   
"Dipper....Who was it?" Mabel asks gently.   
My chest feels tight and it’s suddenly so hard to breathe.   
"Are you okay?"  
No, they must be here to take us back. I can’t go back there. I can’t pretend that everything is normal now that I finally know how it feels to be happy...  
"Dipper, listen to me." Ford's voice is stern and commanding in the same way that he speaks when we are on mission and I cling to it. "Take deep breaths and look at me."  
I feel a large pair of hands take one of mine and I grip tightly as I heave in a shaky breath and peel open my eyelids to look into Ford's worried face.   
I wasn’t even aware that I had squeezed my eyes so tightly shut until the light was pouring in.   
"Bro..." Mabel speaks and she sounds worried, scared. I mentally shake myself. It doesn’t matter how I feel I’ve got to keep it together for her.  
Still squeezing Ford's hand for support I force myself to look at her and steady my breathing.   
"I’m okay... I’m okay."   
My head is swimming.  
"It’s-.... it’s Mom and Dad..."   
Am I going to be sick?   
"What?" Mabel's voice.   
I feel sick.  
"Soos! You and Wendy can go home. Take the rest of the day off. We have family business to deal with."   
Wendy comes back through the door looking stunned. "Um guess I’ll see you guys tomorrow then."  
I watch as two more people leave us alone and only with a wall between me and the man I had fought so hard to escape from.   
I’m definitely going to be sick.   
"Where are the kids, Stan?" My mom’s voice. She still uses the same tone when she’s angry.   
I hold my breath.  
"They ain’t here." Stan growls.  
"Well where are they then?"  
"Er.. they’re at a sleepover." He takes a second too long to respond and Mom catches his lie.  
"That’s a load of bull, Stanford. Where are my kids?"  
As she speaks Ford guides us silently toward the stairs, gesturing for us to go to our room.  
"It’s none of your business, you’re unfit to care for them. They’re staying with me."  
Ford pushes me by the shoulder up the first step but my feet refuse to move. I just stand stiffly listening. I can’t just run away. I can’t pretend this isn’t happening.   
"I don’t know what sick fantasy you’re living out here but they aren’t your children. They need their parents and we’re here to bring them home."  
Stan’s voice goes quiet and we almost have to strain to hear him.  
"Listen here, I’ve had these kids day and night for three months. I’m the one who fed and bathed them, I’m the one they come to when they get in a scrape. They are my goddamn kids and you’re not taking them!"  
Beside me Mabel smiles softly and squeezes my hand.   
There’s a long moment of silence before my mother’s heels sound on the wooden floor. "Mabel! Dipper! Get your stuff this ends now."   
Before Ford can rush us upstairs she has burst through the door and stands before us, cold blue eyes on him.  
"Who on earth are you?" She spits.  
"I’m your uncle, the real Stanford Pines. I’m sure you would’ve known that if you’d have read the letters your daughter wrote you."  
She gawks before looking at Mabel and I who stand behind Ford's legs.  
"Kids, you heard me before. Get your things. You’re never coming back to this place."  
I can feel myself shrinking, my grip on Ford’s hand slipping.   
"No."  
Mabel seems to be just as shocked at her words as everyone else but stands firm.   
Our mother blanches. "What did you say, young lady?"  
Mabel holds her ground. "I said no, mom. We want to live here in Gravity Falls."  
I nod and squeeze her hand. "We’re not leaving."  
Everything is still for a second before another familiar voice speaks.  
"Is that so, Dipper?"  
I look up and meet my fathers eyes.


	4. Safe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tread carefully if you’re triggered by violence

"Get back." Stan rushes into the room behind them and comes to stand like a shield between these two trespassers and his family. "Don’t you dare speak to him after everything you’ve done."  
His breathing is ragged and furious but my father, keeping his cool as ever ignores him and keeps his eyes on me.  
I stand like a deer caught in the headlights.  
"I asked you a question, son. Are you going to be so selfish as to deny your sister her home and her family because of some stupid story?"  
I flinch hard, mouth hanging slightly open and gasping for the right words. He hit me in the only place that can really hurt, Mabel.  
"Oh buddy don’t give me any more reasons to give you the beating you deserve..."  
Stan takes a step towards him and my father takes a small step back.  
"You didn’t really believe him, did you Stan?"  
Stan is poised and ready to fight when Mabel speaks again, voice low.  
"You hurt Dipper, daddy." Her voice is so full of emotion and Ford pulls her a little closer, palm rubbing her back soothingly.  
"Honey your brother has an overactive imagination." My mother speaks and her words sting like a slap in the face. "Can’t you see, Stan. This is all one huge misunderstanding. Tell him Dipper."  
I stay silent, unable to do anything but shake.  
Stan’s voice is eerily calm. "So let me get this straight, you’re calling your son a liar?"  
The woman looks to her husband, stammering a little. "I’m saying that he’s blown a misunderstanding out of proportion and is being childish."  
The room is silent for a minute, the only sound being Mabel’s quiet sniffing. I wonder when she’d started to cry.  
"You fucking bitch."  
The gasp that echoes around the room could’ve come from any one of us. Stan rarely swears and never directly in front of us kids. His breathing is heavy. "You would defend this-....Monster before your own children. You both better get out of my house before I do something that’ll get me in trouble."  
"You believe the kid over us?" My father speaks again and Stan turns to him.  
"Yes I do. The things he’s told me you’ve done..." he grimaces in disgust. "A kid his age shouldn’t even know about. You have one last chance to get out. You’re not the first being I’ve destroyed for messing with my family, with my kids! Trust me when I say that you’re nothing in comparison to him."  
My mother steps between the two men, confident as ever.  
"Don’t you dare threaten him! We are not leaving until we have our kids."  
"Really?" Ford’s voice. "What kids?" He has let go of us both and has stepped into my mother’s path, memory-erasing gun pointed at her head.  
"What is-" she only has a second before she hits the floor, eyes rolled back in her head and body vibrating as her memories are sucked out.  
"Stop that! You’re hurting her!" My father tries to smack the gun from Ford’s hand but Stan has him pinned in a headlock before he can do any damage.  
The gun stops whirring and our mothers unconscious body goes still.  
"What did you wipe?" Stan asks.  
"Oh just the last twenty years of her life. She’ll be out for a while and by then she’ll be far away from here. Would you like to deal with this sack of human waste?" Ford gestures to my father.  
Stan grins and slips on his set of bronze knuckles.  
"With pleasure." 

Ford tries to convince me to leave, to take my mother across state lines with him and Mabel but I refuse to leave the shack and miss the show.  
"Seriously Dipper. I’ve seen what he’s capable of before and it’s not pretty." Says Ford, looking concerned.  
"I know." I say, blinking numbly at him. "But I’ve got to see this. I just know it’ll help."  
The two old men share a glance before Stan shrugs.  
"Stay if you want kid but I’m not going easy on him. I’m going to kill him for what he’s done, Dipper."  
I nod. "I know." I say again. "I’m staying."  
Ford nods and takes Mabel’s hand, leading her out of the Shack with my unconscious mother held over his shoulder like a rag doll.  
Stan turns to me. "Still time to bail if you want kid. No shame in it."  
I shake my head and sit down on the stairs, watching Stan and my semi conscious father from behind the banister.  
Stan has him on his knees in a headlock that has obviously been cutting off his airway. When he’s released he falls to the floor, spluttering and gasping.  
Stan circles, keeping himself between me and the man who now heaves on all fours. It hits me for the first time that he may really not be impenetrable. He’s just a man and not a very strong one.  
"Get up." Stan barks, raising his fists now both clad in brass knuckles. "You think you’ve got power because you can hurt a little kid? Stand on your feet and fight me like a man."  
My father gets up with little hesitation, meeting Stan’s eyes.  
"You think I won’t? You’ve got thirty years on me. I won’t let you humiliate me In front of my son."  
He shoots a glance my way and holds my gaze for a moment but instead of dropping my head I stare him dead on, eyes burning with so much pain and fury.  
The second of distraction is all Stan needs to throw the first punch. He hits hard and with the full weight of his body. Everything seems to move in slow motion as the metal connects with the younger mans face and he hits the floor.  
Blood dribbles down his chin and his hand raises to his face. He groans and stays down as Stan approaches.  
My Grunkle stands over him, face grave but eyes giving away his smugness meaning he doesn’t see it coming when my father grabs hold of his legs and pulls him down to the floor.  
Stan is a brawny man and despite their similar builds he doesn’t have the same grace and dexterity as Ford meaning he loses his balance and goes down hard on the shag carpeting. After a second of heavy breathing they’re wrapped in a twisted, violent embrace as they wrestle on the floor.  
After a second Stan has my father pinned, using his weight to his advantage. He has both his thick hands curled around the mans throat, not relenting even as my father claws at his face until he draws blood.  
Stan ignores the pain, clearly having a tolerance after so many years of being in fights and scraps.  
He releases my fathers neck with one hand and hits him directly in the face, I hear the snapping sound of his nose breaking from my position on the stairs. He groans, the sound weak and snivelling.  
Stan raises his fist and with one final blow to the mans temple he falls unconscious.  
Stan huffs out a loud breath and stands back on his feet. He walks away for a moment and I get up to stand over my father.  
The man I feared for so long, the monster behind every door and under every bed now lays bloody. His lower lip has been split open and he is missing several of his teeth. His nose is bent and leaking red into his mouth. Both eyes are blackened and his neck is bruised in the shape of fingers.  
Though a part of me finally feels some sick kind of justice the rest of me just feels gross.  
Stan comes back with a thick plastic bag in one hand. He comes to stand beside me.  
"You okay, kid?"  
I shake my head and scramble for the right words. "I- I can’t watch this. I’m not a violent person Grunkle Stan. I can’t watch you..."  
A wave of nausea rolls over me.  
He nods. "Go to your room, okay? Stay there until I come get you. By tomorrow you’ll never have to think about this again."  
Without further prompting I shut myself in the attic. I burry myself under my blanket and curl tightly in a ball. I wish Mabel hadn’t taken Waddles with her, I hate being alone.  
I watch the clock from the gap in my sheets as the seconds tick by. After two minutes I hear the unmistakable sound of a gunshot. I whimper and cover my head with my hands. I should’ve gone with Mabel...  
I blink back my tears, listening intently to the sounds of the house and after ten minutes detecting the slight whir of the elevator leading to the basement.  
I suppose it’s lucky Ford has nothing else we need to do down there today...  
After that I stop looking at the clock and burry my face in my pillow, somehow I manage to find sleep. 

I’m pulled abruptly awake by a knock at my door and I sit up in bed, wiping the wetness from my cheeks.  
"Come in." I mutter, not bothering to leave my blanket.  
Stan enters in new clothes and both hands set in gauze. He takes in my red eyes and flushed, blotchy cheeks before silently sitting down beside me.  
"Is it over?" I ask.  
"It’s over." He nods and rests one hand gently on my shoulder. "Look I-... I should never have let you stay. I never want you kids to see me in a way that scares you. You know I’d never lay a finger on you, don’t you kid?"  
He looks afraid, eyes filled with so much worry as if he can picture every way I could reject him after seeing how violent he can become.  
"Of course I do, Grunkle Stan. I know you did it because you were protecting me." He opens his arms and I crawl into a hug, burying my face in his clean shirt.  
"Do you wish you’d left?" He asks, voice soft and rumbling.  
I shrug. "I don’t know. I think it hurt because even after everything there’s still a little bit of me that loves him." I sigh and his strong arms tighten around me. "But I needed to see him like that so that I can stop being scared, to know for sure that the people protecting me are stronger than the ones trying to hurt me."  
He cards his fingers through my hair, making soft shushing sounds.  
"It’s alright, I know kid, I got you. Whatever you’ve gotta say get it out. You’re safe now."  
He shuffles back to lean against the wall, my head held in his arm. He rocks me while I cry and when I eventually fall into a sleep he sits with me cradled in his arms the same way he would when I was small.  
He speaks softly in my ear, hand rubbing soothing circles on my back.  
"You’re staying with us now. Nobody will ever hurt you again..."  
"You’re safe, boy."  
"You’re safe."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the things dippers parents said to deny his experience are things I have experienced with a little tweaking, this has been therapeutic for me to write but definitely is not my proudest work.  
> It brought me comfort and I hope it can do the same for someone else  
> Thank you for reading


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